The New York Legislature passed a law to block the city law and place a moratorium on any new city bag-fee legislation until 2018, part of a disturbing national trend of states pre-empting local government efforts to address plastic pollution.

With these new numbers on plastic pollution in hand, I hope that legislators across the country will see that we cannot wait another day to start solving this crisis.

CHAD NELSEN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIF.

The writer is chief executive of the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit that acts to protect the ocean and beaches.